Harrogate District Hospital has issued an urgent appeal for patients to return crutches and walking sticks.

Pamela Bagot, principal physiotherapist at the hospital, contacted the Stray Ferret to say the therapy services department wanted to offer them to patients who had undergone surgery or been involved in an accident.

“If you have any crutches and walking sticks you no longer use sitting around at home, please drop them off at therapy services at Harrogate District Hospital so we can reuse them and help our patients back up and walking as soon as possible.

“As most people know, there are problems with transporting goods and deliveries around the country, and by individuals returning these items we will ensure that we have enough patient equipment during the winter months.”

Anyone able to help should ask at hospital reception for therapy services.

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The practice manager of Kingswood Surgery on Wetherby Road has said it’s necessary to issue parking fines for its car park to deter non-patients from using it.

Kingswood Surgery and Well Pharmacy are separate entities that happen to share the same building called Kingswood Medical Centre.

On Tuesday, the Stray Ferret reported how a woman collecting a prescription at Well Pharmacy was fined £100 for parking longer than the allowed 15 minutes of free parking for non-patients of the surgery.

Shirley Hopkinson said the short time period was unfair on people collecting prescriptions when the pharmacy was busy.

However, Liz Walker, practice manager at Kingswood Surgery, said patients of the surgery, rather than visitors to the pharmacy, had priority for the car park.

Difficult to park

Ms Walker told the Stray Ferret the car park has been managed by a private company for four-and-a-half years.

The company, called Civil Enforcement, was brought in because visitors and staff at nearby Harrogate Hospital would use the car park for extended periods of time, making it difficult for patients at the surgery to find a place to park.

Ms Barker said:

“We were therefore left with no option but to introduce the current system.”

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Ms Barker said that signs explaining the rules were well advertised and understood, and patients of the surgery were “very supportive” of the arrangements.

“Any patient or visitor to our site can benefit from unlimited free parking through a simple car registration process on entering our reception area. We would not wish to make any changes that would have a detrimental impact on our patients’ ability to access appointments at the surgery.”

She added that the current system of fining non-patients who use the car park for longer than 15 minutes would not be changing.

“Following the publication of your article, we consulted our Patient Group who agreed that they would not like to see any changes to the current arrangements.”

Data analysed by the Stray Ferret shows the impact of the covid vaccine in reducing the number of deaths related to the virus at Harrogate District Hospital.

Since December 2020, when the National Health Service embarked on the biggest vaccination rollout in the UK, more than 120,000 people in the Harrogate district have had at least two jabs.

The data shows the number of patients dying at Harrogate District Hospital has declined significantly as the vaccine rollout has taken place.

As shown in the graph below, the number of daily deaths at the hospital from covid peaked in February 2021 at seven. No more than three deaths have been recorded on any one day in recent months despite the highest infections rates since covid began.

The graph also reveals there was a noticeably higher number of deaths overall in the first two waves than in recent months.

The number of covid vaccinations since December 2020 in the Harrogate district. Data: UK Government. Graph: the Stray Ferret.

The peak of daily deaths came at a time when the vaccine rollout was picking up pace and a national lockdown had been imposed due to soaring covid cases.

Around that time, the district hospital was dealing with a peak of 68 covid inpatients, compared to 22 today.

The following months saw no deaths reported for several weeks in line with the vaccine rollout and restrictions imposed.

Once restrictions were lifted in July, the hospital started to report new covid fatalities — but higher vaccination levels led to a much lower death rate.

The daily covid cases in the Harrogate district since the start of the pandemic. Data: UK Government. Graph: the Stray Ferret.

Since March 2020, the hospital has recorded a total of 197 deaths.

The waning of the effect of covid jabs has seen the government start to rollout booster vaccines for those over-40.

High covid cases and booster vaccines

The number of covid cases has increased dramatically in recent months.

Daily infections peaked in October and have flatlined into November.

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Even so, the number of covid patients at Harrogate District Hospital has still not reached anywhere near the high set in February.

The data on vaccinations and deaths comes as booster vaccines have started to be offered to people across the district.

Walk-in centres have been operating in Leeds and York for those who are eligible for a jab.

However, data on the number of people who have taken up booster vaccines in the Harrogate district is so far unavailable.

As of Monday, 13.1 million people across the UK have had booster vaccinations.

People in Harrogate face a trip to Leeds for their nearest covid booster jab walk-in clinics.

NHS England has announced that, from today, hundreds of vaccination sites in England have started offering booster jabs without appointments for those eligible.

But according to the NHS England site, the nearest walk-in clinic for people in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough is currently Elland Road stadium in Leeds.

Other sites listed for Harrogate are in Bradford, Wakefield and Halifax, the latter of which has five.

The nearest site listed for people in Masham is in Teesside, 44 miles away.

Those eligible must have had their second vaccine six months ago and be aged over 50 or have an underlying medical condition.

Care home staff and residents, and frontline health and social care workers can also get the booster vaccine.

The walk-in centres will also offer first covid vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds.

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Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS covid vaccination programme, said: 

“NHS staff are making it as easy as possible for people to get their top-up vaccination, and from today people can now go online, find their nearest site and go and get their booster without delay.

“The booster is not just a nice to have – it is really important protection ahead of what we know will be a challenging winter. So if you are eligible, please do check the site finder and go get your jab”.

Local bookings available

Those eligible for a booster can still book appointments at vaccination sites in the district.

The Homecare Pharmacy site in Knaresborough is currently offering vaccinations by appointment. Last week, the centre at Chain Lane Community Hub welcomed its first 12 to 15-year-olds to be offered a vaccine.

The Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination site will reopen in December for two weeks in an effort to tackle demand for booster jabs.

To book an appointment, visit the NHS England website.

There have been 559 excess deaths in North Yorkshire during the coronavirus pandemic, new figures have revealed.

Excess deaths are a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected when compared to previous years and can be used to show the overall impact of the pandemic.

Figures presented to a meeting of North Yorkshire’s Outbreak Management Advisory Board showed 11,347 deaths from all causes were expected during the weeks of the pandemic based on the five-year average.

A total of 11,906 deaths from all causes were recorded up until 1 October – giving an excess of 559.

Dr Victoria Turner, public health consultant at North Yorkshire County Council, told today’s meeting that these figures were “largely reflective of the national position”. She said:

“The largest peaks of excess deaths, unsurprisingly, were during covid’s first and second wave.

“This was followed by periods where deaths were actually a bit below the expected number, however, those periods were not enough to offset the very high numbers of excess deaths that we saw during both wave one and two.”

According to Public Health England figures, there have been a total of 1,227 deaths in North Yorkshire where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

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The recent rate of Covid deaths and hospital admissions has increased slightly since the end of summer, however, the figures are lower than previous waves.

20 patients still in intensive care

Despite this, Sue Peckitt, chief nurse at NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said the heath service was still facing “unprecedented” demand with 171 Covid patients currently in the county’s hospitals.

She told today’s meeting that the majority of these patients were over-65 and that 20 were in intensive care:

“We continue to see high demand into our primary and emergency care departments.

“Whilst we are seeing high numbers of Covid infections in our younger population, it is the older population that is presenting into hospital.”

Ms Peckitt also said the vaccine rollout was continuing with a focus on booster jabs for over 50s and increasing uptake for 12 to 15-year-olds who will be offered their single dose by the end of November. She added:

“The schools programme for 12 to 15-year-olds is now rolling out through our provider Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, but we have also opened up three sites on the national booking system.

“These are the pharmacy site at Knaresborough, the Askham Bar site at York and the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough.”

The Harrogate district has creeped back up to the third highest covid rate in North Yorkshire.

It comes as the area records another 198 coronavirus cases today, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

That takes the seven-day coronavirus rate for the district up to 524 per 100,000, which is only lower than Craven and Ryedale in North Yorkshire respectively.

North Yorkshire’s average is 504 per 100,000 and England’s is 438.

Although daily cases remain relatively high, Harrogate District Hospital has not reported any further covid patient deaths today. It reamins at 93 covid deaths in total.

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The hospital was treating 19 covid patients as of Monday.

It was also announced this week that 12-15 year olds can now book their covid vaccines appointments.

As of today, a total of 130,616 first doses have been delivered and 122,087 second doses of the vaccine. No figures are currently available for boosters.

Harrogate and District Foundation Trust has rebranded some vehicles with messages that encourage people to talk about donating their organs.

The trust began the campaign following a recent change in the law around organ donation.

Since May last year, all adults are now considered to have agreed to donate their organs when they die, unless they record a decision not to do so, are in one of the excluded groups, or have told their family that they don’t want to.

However, relatives are still consulted before organ donation and the trust believes opportunities to donate are being missed because families aren’t sure what to do.

The campaign therefore aims to get people talking about the subject and leave relatives certain of their wishes.

Dr Sarah Marsh, clinical lead for organ donation at the trust, said:

“Knowing what your relative wanted, helps families support their decision around organ donation at what is often a difficult time.

“We need more people to talk with their loved ones about organ donation to give them the certainty they need to support their organ donation decision. We hope seeing our organ donation branded vehicles will encourage people to have this conversation.

“Your loved ones will still always be consulted before organ donation goes ahead. Please don’t wait. Speak to your family about organ donation and let them know your decision today.”

To register your decision about organ donation click here.

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A woman from Ripon suffering with gum problems has not been able to get treatment at a dentist for two years.

Rachael Kimberley is a single mother on a low income so she cannot afford to go private and relies on NHS dentistry.

Her experience comes after a Healthwatch North Yorkshire report found that there was just one NHS dentist practice per 10,000 people in the Harrogate district.

It also comes after an investigation by the Stray Ferret found patients in the district face a minimum wait of two and a half years to register for an NHS dentist.

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Ms Kimberley has been registered with the same practice on for the last 40 years but told the Stray Ferret that she has struggled since a private provider took over.

She added:

“The provider said that the NHS patients still registered would see no change when they took over the practice.

“I have been suffering with bleeding and receeding gums so I have been trying to go for a check up.

“When I ask to be seen they tell me that I will be seen in ‘due course’ but what does that mean?

“If the problem continues then I fear I will be stumped with a big bill in the hundreds or thousands that I just cannot afford.”

Her story shows the real suffering behind the statistics from the health watchdog. Healthwatch North Yorkshire received 176 calls from the public in the last year about NHS dentists. The vast majority — 84% — were negative.

The health watchdog called in its report for action on the problem and said coronavirus has only acted to exemplify a dental system already under enormous strain and challenge.

A health watchdog has laid bare the shocking lack of provision of NHS dentists in the Harrogate district in a new report published today.

NHS Dentistry in North Yorkshire: A Review of Public Feedback 2020-2021 found there was just one NHS dentist practice per 10,000 people in the district.

The report, published by Healthwatch North Yorkshire, also revealed that no Harrogate district dental practices were currently taking on new patients.

With so few dentists and so many patients, the report said many patients faced either long waits or high bills through private treatment.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire also highlighted how confusing it can be for someone attempting to find an NHS dentist.

In most areas across the county there are dentists listed on the NHS Choices website which do not actually provide an NHS service.

Volunteers from Healthwatch North Yorkshire called all of the practices listed on the NHS website in the county to ask if they were taking on new patients.

Three of the 19 in the Harrogate district said they were not NHS practices.

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This means there are 16 NHS dentist practices in the Harrogate district for an estimated 160,500 people. None are taking on new patients.

Healthwatch North Yorkshire received 176 calls from the public in the last year about NHS dentists. The vast majority — 84% — were negative.

Some of the complaints from Harrogate residents:

Anonymous email, December 2020, Harrogate:

“I needed an emergency filling at the beginning of the first lockdown. I was offered a temporary DIY kit which worked for all of two days.

“Weeks go by. I finally got my appointment, only to find that they still can’t fix it because they can’t use all equipment without the correct PPE.

“God knows how many months later and I’ve still only got a temporary fix.”

Anonymous website feedback, April 2021, Harrogate:

“I have been trying to obtain an NHS dentist for my 10-year-old daughter, myself and my husband.

“One dentist in Knaresborough said they could add us to a list that had a three year wait for an appointment.

“Another told me that the only way that my daughter could be seen would be if myself and my husband took a private place at a cost of £75 for an initial consultation each.

“This is disgraceful and holding people ransom for their children to be able to access basic dental treatment.”

Anonymous telephone call, April 2021, Harrogate:

“Caller rang about their partner. They have a hole in their tooth. Rang 111 to arrange an emergency appointment because of the pain – it took a week and a half to get an appointment.

“The dentist charged £90, and gave antibiotics. Told them to come back two days later for further treatment, bill to be £1,600.

“I tried finding NHS dentists elsewhere, none anywhere. Partner can’t pay that as they have been unemployed for the past six months.”

What can be done to fix the problem?

Ashley Green, chief executive of Healthwatch North Yorkshire, said:

“The lack of access to and availability of NHS dentists has severely affected the health and wellbeing of people across North Yorkshire, from Scarborough to Selby, from Craven to Harrogate.

“The impact of coronavirus has only acted to exemplify a dental system already under enormous strain and challenge.

“We feel it is now time to act – and to use upcoming changes to NHS and social care reforms, specifically the emergence of integrated care systems to fuel this change.

“We hear on a weekly basis the struggles of people and families unable to be seen by an NHS dentist, but also the desire by NHS dentists to see and treat their patients more effectively.”

The man in charge of Harrogate District Hospital has been racially abused by England fans on his way home tonight.

Steve Russell, chief executive of Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, tweeted about the incident shortly after England’s 2-0 win over Germany.

He said that a woman shouted “I’m proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you”.

Mr Russell is in charge of more than 2,000 staff who have been at the forefront of the fight against covid in the district over the past 15 months.

He has spoken about racism encountered in previous interviews, saying he had been told to “get back in my banana boat” while at school.

He has also said BAME colleagues deserve to be treated better.

Mr Russell’s tweet to his almost 4,500 followers prompted an avalanche of supportive responses.

One said the comment was “utterly vile”, another said “awful and just plain old barbaric” while another person said he hoped Mr Russell pointed out that most of England’s goals have been scored by Jamaican-born Raheem Sterling.

Nice. Just walked home in Harrogate. People celebrating the #EnglandvGermany win and a woman slurred ‘I’m proud to be white and British because we’re better than people like you’ at me.

Charming.

— #hellomynameis Steve (he/him) 💙 (@steve_r76) June 29, 2021

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